How to Twitter [Infographic]

While there are a lot of social networks to sign-up for, probably one of the easiest social networks to join and start using has to be Twitter. While most networks require you to add friends and start following people, Twitter takes a different approach.Instead, all you need to do is sign-up (which takes about a minute) and then you can begin looking at posts from  other Twitter users and can interact with their content by tweeting, retweeting and following those users.

To help you get started with learning Twitter lingo, check out this Infographic on how to Twitter, complete with all of the steps you need to sign-up, select a username, and begin following and tweeting to others on Twitter.

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8 types of images that work on Pinterest

8 image types for maximum repins on PinterestPinterest, a social network with around 11.7 million plus monthly visitors, is the fastest growing social network (until something better comes along). Now I know what you’re thinking – another social network to join, how do you find the time?

Unlike other social networks, one thing that sets Pinterest apart is that it isn’t about games or apps or tweets nor is it about having to approve a friend request in order for someone to look at your updates. Instead, it’s all about images (and videos), so lets get started!

8 types of images that work well on Pinterest

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Top 10 Books on Social Media and Engagement

What top 10 books would I recommend for you if you are getting started with social media or are currently using it and looking to get better at it and improve your engagement with fans and customers? Here are my top 10 social media books with an explanation as to why I believe they are important to you and how they can help you improve your online engagement on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and others.

Likeable Social Media

Think Before You Engage

UnMarketing

The Mesh

Groundswell

Steve Jobs

Ready Aim Fire

How We Decide

CrushIt! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Trust Agents

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Pinpuff A Tool to Measure Your Influence on Pinterest (with video)

Pinpuff

While Klout is a tool to measure your overall social media influence, it does not measure Pinterest.  Fortunately, there’s another social media tool that can help you measure your influence or “pinfluence” on Pinterest called Pinpuff.

What I like about this app:

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Your favorite 5

Last pick on teamQuick, grab a piece of paper, don’t give this any thought, and write down the names of five people.

So what do these five people you’ve just selected represent?  No, they aren’t your starting five on your first basketball team.  In fact, they’re a lot more valuable than that…  Now that you have selected five people, take a moment and look at how successful they are in their own lives – we’re not talking about money here.

Do they have a good family life, are they in good shape, how is their attitude, are they influencers or inhibitors in your personal life? Chance are, you’ll come to find out that the people you just named are people who are influential in your life in one way or another (your favorite five). Some might influence you financially, because you aspire to be where they are at. Others might be deeply rooted in family. Others might be holding you back from reaching your personal goals.

What’s the point?

Just as these five people influence your life in-person, these same principles hold true online as well on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc.

Who you spend your time with impacts your own life – whether it is having a physical conversation with them or commenting and liking their status update on Facebook.

Now that you know more about your favorite five, take a moment and think about the five people you listed. Are these people influencers or inhibitors? There’s nothing wrong with adding or removing from your favorite five. In fact, to be successful, I suggest surrounding yourself with people that will have a positive influence on  your life – this can be someone who brightens your day or that somebody who really irritates you because they seem to have it all, yet they challenge you to get better.

5 types of status updates to build social engagement

5 status updates to build online engagementThis post doesn’t really apply to one single social network. In fact, you could apply it to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ (or even one of the other smaller social networks that you’ve joined). We’re talking about status updates.

Just being on the hottest social network doesn’t guarantee that you’ll instantly amass a large following. It also doesn’t matter how many fans, friends or followers you have. No, you need to be engaging. We’re not talking about going around and meeting every single person that you’re connected with (that would take a ridiculous amount of time). Instead, we’re talking about using the basics that all social networks are built around – the status update.

Every social network offers a variation of the status update. For Facebook users, it could be a quote, sharing an event, posting engaging photos, or simply using the questions appTwitter users are a little more confined – 140 characters to be exact, yet the status update is still relevant to share links, break news, or even tweet a photo from your encounter with your favorite celebrity. For Pinterest users, the status update isn’t just the photo that you pin to your pinboards – that’s a good chuck of it. In addition, be sure you include keyword rich descriptions (there’s a nifty search feature as well).

So enough with the examples, right? Take me to the 5 types of status updates that you can post to help build your engagement levels!

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Social Media Hex Color Codes

Social Media Color Hex Codes

Knowing the right social media color when working in Adobe Photoshop Elements or your favorite graphics program can help save you valuable time when you need to create a social media icon or match your design to your favorite social network.

Here’s a list of the the hex codes for your favorite social media sites. Be sure to bookmark this page this way you have the right social media colors when you need them.

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